Three kids, two parents, one crazy cat and a sweet pup traveling the world. We have completed our Unaccompanied Tour and are now shouting out from Managua, Nicaragua. The blog is authored by Jen, fueled by too much coffee and too little sleep. Follow us as we explore the world!

June 07, 2010

We have arrived...

safe and sound, and are ensconced in our lovely "Inn & Suites" hotel of choice in Barstow, CA. No, it doesn't appear to be much of a hot-spot, unless one is interested in the outlets (not so much), but a good stopping point for us, especially considering we got a bit of a late start.

The emptying of the hotel room and loading of the car took a wee bit longer than we had expected. I had several errands to run which made it hard to fill the car, and the loading itself nearly required an engineer. Remember how Kelsey left for Camporee after the movers left, the kids had school until Friday, and Cait had her final performance yesterday? All of that translated into many more backpacks, outfits, sleeping bags and extra stuff that we had to squeeze in. I didn't think about mailing any of the big items until it was too late to get boxes and make it to the post office in time (way too big for the APC, sadly).

Other than the delayed start and a bit of a squeeze into the car, the ride was, well, uneventful. We hopped on 680, waved good-bye to San Ramon and patted ourselves on the back for making it thus far. The ride was smooth and I actually got a bit of work done (so grateful for the iPhone) while the kids watched a DVD or two (I caved...it's a looong drive), and we made great time all things considered. The best part? It's so warm here, even at night! I had become so used to the cool (to frigid) Northern California nights, that I forgot that summer nights can be balmy...absolutely heavenly (for me, Peter is sweltering already).

We did manage one pit stop at Target in order to get boxes to ship some of the unnecessary items home (Salty Dogs, box alert!). We hope to get an earlier start tomorrow (after hitting the post office in Barstow) in order to get to our hotel near the Grand Canyon before sunset. We also need to try to get a good night's sleep for Tuesday's excursion, as we want to squeeze in as much time as we can at the Canyon before we get back on the road and head to New Mexico. And, with that, it's time for some shut-eye...ciao!

Wondering what Kelsey is holding? Ah, yes, those are her pet meal worms, Spiky (now a beetle) and Flexy. Well, were meal worms. One has fully transformed into a beetle, and is almost black, whereas the other one is still in pupa stage. She was allowed to take one home from school, and desperately wanted to bring them with us. We nearly lost them today when Cait knocked their container over, but thankfully they didn't fall far. The death of a meal worm is something I am just not sure I could handle at this point....

As an FYI, Nicholas is doing the "toes to nose" Yoga pose as part of the in-flight entertainment....

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I scheduled our packout for after school's out for exactly that "extra stuff" reason. (I know you didn't have that option with a house full of belongings, but it's great you still could fit everything in the car.)

I love that you have meal worms with you on your trip. My son brought meal worms home from school when we were in Jakarta. the maid refused to clean the bookshelf they lived on. It was sad for him when we had to ind a new home for the creepy crawlies before we left.

I'm with you on the "balmy summer nights" thing. Growing up in North Eastern Ohio, that was the one thing I really missed when we lived in Santa Cruz. I love hot summer nights! Good luck and safe travels on your trip out here. I've done the same exact road trip about 5 times now, but never with little ones so I'm sure that would definitely change the dynamic :)

Yay!!! You made it out and are officially on the road! I've been behind in following your trails, so I'm backtracking your posts. Looking forward to seeing the Grand Canyon - I've never been there before!

And BTW, thanks for the info on the Homefront Yahoo group. I just signed up for it yesterday and am THRILLED with all the info. Especially the once a year flights. AWESOME!